WO2009122218A2 - Apparatus for identifying unsuitable products for a recipient - Google Patents

Description

Apparatus for identifying unsuitable products for a recipient Field of the invention

The present invention relates to apparatus for identifying unsuitable products for an intended recipient. In particular but not exclusively, the invention identifies irritants such as allergens in products, in particular but not exclusively food products. In particular the invention provides a method for a user to easily be able to identify any potential unsuitable properties associated with a product and assessing the potential unsuitability of the product to the user.

Background of the invention More than two million people in the UK alone suffer from one or more allergies associated with ingested products and applied cosmetics. The reaction caused by these products or allergens may range from mild irritation, or a rash, to death depending on the level of severity associated with the person and the particular property such as an allergen.

Well known allergens include dairy products, nuts, wheat, fish, Soya, artificial colourants, food preservatives and several chemicals found in household cleaning and DIY products.

Given that in severe cases, exposure to slight traces of the irritants can lead to extreme allergic reactions affecting the respiratory and cardiovascular systems. Treatments, where available, may be required within minutes and may require hospitalisation. Therefore, avoiding exposure to the offending materials is clearly desirable.

There are several known factors that make the task of identification and selection more complicated if not impossible for particular consumers. These include, but are not limited to: poor or imprecise labelling of products which may not contain information regarding all known allergens or unsuitable materials; small or difficult to read labelling which may make vital information difficult to see; foreign language labelling, which may mean potentially life saving information remains unknown to the user; trade names and formulaic labelling causing confusion amongst the users about which ingredients are actually present in a given product; and learning difficulties, or physical handicaps such as blindness that impair a person's comprehension of the labelling.

Lack of awareness when shopping for third party consumers e.g. by carers, family members and friends, who may be unaware of a particular allergy or intolerance that the end user or intended recipient may suffer from can cause problems. Varying levels of reaction between users exist with some users having severe or fatal, reactions to some allergens or products that may not affect or only mildly affect the majority of the population.

Therefore, it is desirable to have an easy to use system that is enabled to provide a user with sufficient information regarding possible problems for an intended recipient such as the presence of allergens in a product.

To solve at least some of these problems identified in the prior art there is provided a device for alerting a user of the unsuitability of a product, comprising an input to enable entry of the type of product which a user wishes to use, a processor adapted to determine the suitability of a selected product for the intended recipient based on a comparison of known properties of the product with a profile of the intended recipient, and an output adapted to alert the user if the product is determined to be unsuitable.

Preferably, the device comprising a local data store, such as a memory, comprising at least one profile of the intended recipient having details of known properties of a product, such as irritants, allergens, cosmetics, medicines and or foodstuffs unsuitable for use, such as consumption or application by the intended recipient, and/or wherein the profile of the intended recipient is locally editable, and/or wherein the device comprises a data input such as a key pad or touch screen, and/or wherein the device further comprises a data input to enables downloading of one or more profiles from a remote location, and/or wherein the profile contains information about level of unsuitability of the known properties for the intended recipient.

There is also provided a hand-held device wherein the input is adapted to read types of content within a product, such as known allergens

In another aspect of the invention there is provided a device wherein the input is adapted to read a label representative of product information, e.g. a barcode identifying the product and or contents/ingredients/allergens in the product. Preferably the device further comprises a local data store, such as a memory, of products, preferably wherein the data associated with a product comprises known allergens, intolerance compounds such as lactose.

More preferably wherein the output is adapted to provide different levels of alert dependent on the severity of unsuitability of the product to the user, such as dependent on the risk of content of an irritant and or the concentration of the irritant.

There is according to yet another aspect of the invention labelling for products, comprising a machine readable identifier having information representative of the unsuitability for the intended recipient consumption of at least certain of the ingredients of the foodstuff.

Preferably wherein the machine readable identifier is a barcode listing known irritants, allergens, and intolerance ingredients.

In a further aspect there is a transportable food storage apparatus, such as a basket or trolley, comprising a device wherein the device is usable to input information about a product as is it being put into the apparatus.

There is also provided apparatus for assessing the risk posed by a product to a user, the apparatus comprising: a user device, the user device comprising a reader to read product information associated with the product, a memory associated with the device, said memory comprising one or more user profiles, said user profiles comprising information regarding the level of unsuitability posed by one or more known allergens to a user, a processor associated with the user device and an output; a product information database comprising information on the presence of one or more previously identified allergens contained in one or more products; a product information identifier that is machine readable for one or more products; in use the user device enabled to read the product information identifier associated with the product, and the processor comparing the read product information with a user profile to determine a level of unsuitability of the product to the user associated with the user profile; and outputting the level of unsuitability to the device output.

The term use in the specification includes but is not limited to, consumption, application, and ingestion of a particular product. Further aims, aspects and features of the invention will be apparent from the appended claims and the following description.

Brief description of the drawings

An embodiment of the invention is now described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a schematic of the apparatus according to a first aspect of the invention;

Figure 2 is a schematic of the apparatus according to a second aspect of the invention;

Figure 3 is a flow chart of the process of identifying certain properties associated with product and alerting a user to a level of unsuitability associated with the product;

Figure 4 is a representation of a scanner used in an embodiment of the invention;

Figure 5 is an example of a user profile;

Figure 6 is an example of a product information identifier; and

Figure 7 is an example of the product information barcode.

Detailed description of an embodiment Figure 1 is a schematic representation of the apparatus according to a first aspect of the invention.

There is shown, external user computer 2 connected to the internet 4, a central computer 10, comprising a processor 12, a products database 14, a user profile database 16, and a wireless communicator 18. There is also shown the user device 20, comprising a reader 22, a wireless communicator 24, a device input 26 and a device output 28, and one or more products 30 comprising product information 32. The term product is taken to be a consumer product that may be purchased by a consumer. Products include for example foodstuffs, cleaning products, make up, DIY products etc. During the course of the specification, examples will be given with reference to food products. However, it must be noted that the invention can be used to determine the presence of irritants in non- food items e.g. DIY products such as paints, glues etc, perfumes and cosmetics and animal food stuffs.

Before use, a user will have preferably created and stored a intended recipient profile who may be the user of the invention or another person or animal. In a preferred embodiment, the user utilises an external computer 2 such as personal computer to connect to the Internet 4 to access the central computer 10. Such access is preferably regulated via user interface via a website where the user may register their details. These details include a UID (user identification) and details of the allergies and intolerances that the intended recipient (who may or many not be the user) is known to suffer from and the severity of their reaction or intolerance. The format of a user profile is discussed in greater detail with reference to Figure 5.

A user will have access to an individual user device 20 whilst shopping. The user device 20 may have the form of the device as shown in Figure 4. The user device 20 in the preferred embodiment has the following basic functionality: a reader 22 enabled to read product information regarding foodstuff or products; a wireless communicator that is enable to receive and transmit information, a device input 26 in the preferred embodiment this is a known numeric keypad and a device output 28 in the form of a screen.

The user will input via the device input 26 a UID and preferably a password to ensure the security of the system. In other embodiments, the device input 26 may be a card reader and the UID is in the form of a swipe card, key fob, store loyalty card etc. Once the user has inputted the data required to identify themselves or the intended recipient (UID and preferably password), the wireless communicator 24 transmits the inputted data, along with a user device identifier (to enable the central computer to determine from which device the communication originated), to the central computer 10, whereupon the information is compared and retrieved from the user profile database 16. Therefore, the user device 20 is associated with a particular UID and therefore intended recipient. Once the details of the user have been successfully identified a confirmation message is sent from the wireless communicator 18 in the central computer, to the user device 20 confirm successful registration. The device output 28 then displays a message informing the user that the device is successfully registered. In other embodiments, the device output 28 may be an audible alarm or a tactile alarm, these embodiments are preferred for the user devices that are designed for those who have poor eyesight or learning difficulties.

In use, the user carries the user device 20 with them whilst shopping. If the user wishes to ascertain the suitability of a product 30 they scan the product information 32 with the reader 22. The product information 32 contains identifiers to allow the product 30 being scanned to be identified.

Such product information 32 in the preferred embodiment is an invention specific barcode that contains information regarding properties of the products that are known irritants, allergens, foodstuffs and potential intolerances. The format of this barcode is described in greater detail with reference to Figure 6. An example of the barcode is shown in Figure 7. In further embodiments the product information 32 is in the form of a known Universal Product Code (UPC) or standard barcode that is present on most consumer products.

The product information 32 as read by the reader 22 is transmitted to the central computer 10 via the wireless communicators 24 18 along with the UID or in further embodiments a user device 20 ID. Preferably, further product information is then retrieved from the central products database 14. Such information includes the amount and type of known allergens, foodstuffs and irritants that are potentially unsuitable for the intended recipient. From the UID or user device 20 ID a particular profile may be associated with the product information 32 as read by the reader 22. The processor 12 then compares the user profile with the product information 32 to calculate a level of unsuitability for the given product. This process is discussed in further detail with reference to Figure 3.

It must be noted that the user profile relates to an intended recipient of the product in question. The user profile is not necessarily the profile of the user of the invention. For example, if the user of the user device 20 were a carer purchasing food for a disabled person, the intended recipient would be the disabled person not the carer and the user profile would be the profile of the disabled person. For example, if the intended recipient is identified in their user profile as being highly allergic to nuts and lactose intolerant, and the product 30 is determined from the product information 32, and the data stored in the products database 14 as containing Soya, a trace amount of lactose, nuts and wheat. The comparison of the product information to user profile by processor 12, would identify the Soya and wheat as posing no risk to the intended recipient, the trace amounts of lactose as being a slightly unsuitable and the presence of nuts as making the product 30 highly unsuitable. The level of unsuitability of the product is transmitted to the user device 20 and displayed on the device output 28.

In a further embodiment, the comparison of the product information and user profile is performed using a set of rules stored in a decision engine (not shown). These rules identify the unsuitability of a product according to the presence and amount of the foodstuff such as an allergen etc., that are present in the product and the level of unsuitability for the intended recipient. For example, if the intended recipient is mildly lactose intolerant and the user (who may or may not also be the intended recipient) scans a product that contains a trace amount of lactose the product may be deemed slightly unsuitable as the level of reaction is expected to be low. However, if the intended recipient has a potentially fatal allergy to nuts and the user scans a product with trace amounts of nuts the unsuitability of the product will be deemed as very high given the user allergy, notwithstanding the small amount of nut involved. The rules stored in the decision engine may be varied according to the intended recipient's needs.

Therefore for each product 30 scanned by the reader 22, the user device 20 will transmit the product information 32 to the central computer 10 where a level of unsuitability of the product is determined by comparing the level of known allergens, irritants etc, in the product to the intended recipient's profile (which contains information regarding the level of unsuitability of known foodstuffs, allergens, irritants etc). The level of unsuitability as determined by the comparison of the profile and product information is performed by the central computer 10 and returned to the user device 20 and displayed to the user via the device output 28.

The wireless communication occurs via known protocols and includes standard information regarding device, time sent, number of bytes or data packages sent etc. Figure 2 shows a second embodiment of the invention. There is shown the apparatus as described with respect to Figure 1. There is further shown locally stored user profile 40 and locally stored products database 42 as well as the user device processor 44.

In use, the user enters the UID and preferably password in the device input 26, to access the intended recipient's profile, which is communicated to the central computer 10. A copy of the intended recipient's profile as stored in the user profile database 16 is then transferred to the user device 20 and stored as the locally stored user profile 40. Products containing the unsuitable materials/properties as listed in the intended recipient' s profile are identified from the products database 14 and downloaded to the user device 20 and stored in the locally stored products database 42.

The user scans product information 32 of the various products 30 and the identified product is compared to the list of products stored in the locally stored products database 42. If a match is found the level of unsuitability is calculated by the user device processor 44 and displayed on the device output 28. Therefore, the invention differs to the embodiment as shown in Figure 1 in that the intended recipient's profile and product information is stored locally on the user device 30 and the decision regarding the level of unsuitability is also made locally. This reduces the requirement for the number of times information has to be transmitted between the user device 20 and the central computer 10, thereby saving on the computational resources and requirements of the central computer 10.

Figure 3 describes a process to determine the unsuitability of a product in the present invention.

There is shown the step of identifying the user or intended recipient at step SlOl, downloading the products database at step S 102, scanning an item at step S 103, verifying the timestamp at step S 104, locking the device at step S 105, identifying potential unsuitable properties at step S 106, determining a level of unsuitability at step S 107, comparing the level of unsuitability to a predetermined level at step S 108 and alerting the user at step S 109.

The intended recipient's profiles contain user specific information regarding their allergies, intolerances etc., and classes these under the general heading of "irritants". Therefore the profile is user specific and would not apply to all users. The user enters their UID and preferably password at on the user device 20 via the device input 26 at the step SlOl. Known methods for user identification and password verification are used to implement the verification of the UID and password.

Preferably, the intended recipient's profile is downloaded and stored on the user device 20 in locally stored user profile 40.

The intended recipient's profile preferably contains a timestamp, indicating the last time the profile was updated. In a preferred embodiment, the timestamp of the profile is verified at this user verification stage in order to determine the last use of the profile. As a safety feature the user is preferably required to update the profile on a six monthly basis to keep the profile up-to-date regarding any allergies. If the timestamp is greater than a pre-determined time the user device 20 becomes locked and does not scan the product information, thereby preventing use of the user device 20. The locking of the device preferably occurs by disabling the reader 22 thereby preventing the product information 32 to be read.

At step S 102 products that contain irritants that a list in the intended recipient's profile are downloaded to the user device 20 and stored in the locally stored products database 42. For example, if a user is identified by their profile as being allergic to celery, all foodstuffs containing celery or celeriac, such as Celeriac soup or a tinned stew with celery in it, would be downloaded from the products database 14 (as stored on the central computer 10), to the locally stored product database 42 on the user device 20. Therefore, the user device 20 only contains details of products that are relevant to the intended recipient, in that they contain known properties or materials that are irritants to the intended recipient. The database is also marked with a timestamp indicating the time when the database was updated.

At step S 103 the user scans the product information 32 that is associated with the product 30. Said product information is preferably in the form of a separate machine readable ID or barcode. In a further embodiment the user may enter a product information via the device input 26 keypad.

In an embodiment of the invention, the product information code is the UPC code which allows a quick identification of the product to be made. As the database of products downloaded at step S 102 would only contain information of the products that are contain irritants to the particular intended recipient then not all products available in the supermarket will be present in the database. Therefore, if the scanned item is not found in the locally stored database 42 it is likely that the product is fine for the intended recipient.

In another preferred embodiment the product information 42 is specific to the invention and has the form of an extra set of marking that are decipherable by the user device 20 and the reader 22. These marking contain information about the class of the product property/irritant as well as further information regarding order and/or family of the irritant and preferably information identifying the product. This allows more informed decisions to be made regarding the unsuitability of the products or foodstuffs they wish to purchase, which has the advantage of acting a further safety feature. If a product is identified as containing a trace amount of nuts on the product information 32 but the entry in the product information database 14 does not state that the product contains nuts then this potentially life saving piece of information would be lost. Similarly, if the product information label 32 were incorrect and stated that the product did not contain nuts when in fact it did, this information would be present in the product information database 14 thereby ensuring the user did not select an item containing nuts.

At step S 104 a further safety measure is implemented. The timestamp of the database is verified to determine when the locally stored product database 42 was last updated. This measure is to ensure that the user is not using a locally stored product database 42 that is out of date and potentially incorrect. In the preferred embodiment the default limit of the timestamp is six hours, though this may be altered. If the timestamp indicates that the database was last updated over six hours ago, the user device is disabled or locked at step S105. The locking of the user device 20 preferably disables the reader 22 and therefore prevents the user from scanning any further product information 32 codes.

If the locally stored product database 42 has been renewed in the past six hours the process of comparing the identified irritants to the user profile occurs at step S 106. The product information 32 as retrieved from the product 30, in the preferred embodiment contains information identifying the product and the irritants or other suitable features present in the product. The locally stored product database 42 also contains information regarding the amount of irritant or relative risk associated with the irritant. Once the properties of the product such as allergens and irritants have been identified and compared at step S 106 a level of unsuitability posed by these properties is determined at step S107.

Preferably the determination is made according to a set of rules as stored in the decision engine (not shown) which set the level of unsuitability according to the intended recipient' s potential reaction and the amount of irritant present. Additionally the rules take into account the number of different irritants present and weight the level of unsuitability accordingly.

In a further embodiment, the level of unsuitability is determined according to the amount of irritant present in the product and the level of severity of the intended recipient's allergic reaction or intolerance. For example, an intended recipient with a severe reaction to a particular irritant will always have a high level of unsuitability associated any product that contains the irritant, even if it is only a trace element. Conversely, if a recipient has only a very mild reaction to a particular irritant trace amounts of that particular element would only return a low level of unsuitability.

If the amount of irritant present in a particular product is unknown or the severity of the intended recipient's allergy is unknown the level of unsuitability is automatically set at the highest level.

Once the level of unsuitability has been determined the user is informed at step S 108. The method of informing the user is preferably via a screen that forms the device output 28. In further embodiments the device output 28 comprises a set of red, orange and green lights to represent a basic traffic light system, with highly unsuitable products being represented by the right light. In yet another embodiment, the device output 28 includes a speaker, with an alarm sounding when the level of unsuitability is above a preset level. In a further embodiment the user device 20 comprises a vibrating mechanism that causes the device to vibrate when the level of unsuitability is above the predetermined level.

Therefore, the user device 20 provides a simple to use method of identifying the level of unsuitability for a given product. Figure 4 shows an exemplary version of the user device 20. There is shown the features of the user device 20 as described with reference to Figures 2. There is also shown the base station 50, power supply 52.

The user device 20 in the preferred embodiment is a handheld device. When not in use the device is placed in the base station 50, which preferably is connected to a power supply 52 to charge an internal battery (not shown). The base station 50 also functions as a communications means to the central computer 10 to allow the locally stored user profile 40 and product database 42 to be updated when not in use. Such communication may occur via a wired or wireless network.

The scanner or reader 22 is a known reading device that functions in the same manner as known barcode readers. Other readers 22 for the product information 32 may be used according to the nature of the product information. For example, a radio receiver may be used as the reader 22 if the product information 32 is stored in an RFID tag. Other methods of storing and reading the information may be used without deviating from the inventive concept.

The device input 26 is a numeric keypad in which the user may enter their UID and password, preferably in the form of a PIN, to login into the system.

In a further embodiment the device input 26 is an alphanumeric keypad and the user is optionally able to register their details (or those of the intended recipient) at the user device 20 as opposed to pre-registering. Therefore, if a user has not pre-registered and knows which irritants they should avoid they are able to input such information into the user device 20 and utilise the invention.

Other aspects of the user device 20 preferably include the ability for the device to have interchangeable decals or inserts so that brand names or store names may be presented to the user. An internal clock in the user device 20 to check the timestamp of the databases and profiles used. An on/off button and a battery charge indicator so that the user is aware when to return the device to the power supply 52. Preferably, the device output 28 is a low powered LCD or bi-stable screen enabled to output the level unsuitability in varying text sizes to make the device user friendly for those for have seeing difficulties. Optionally, the user device 20 has a series of traffic lights to indicate the level of unsuitability to the recipient, which overcomes some problems with foreign languages, learning difficulties and illiterate users.

Figure 5 is an example of a user profile in the present invention. There is shown the User ID (UID) 60, the user's list of irritants 62, the user's level of unsuitability 64 associated with each irritants and the time stamp 66.

The user is identified by their user name or UID 60. In the example in Figure 5 there are two identified users Alice and Bob. In the preferred embodiment the UID 60 is a unique identification number, though for illustrative purposes these are not shown in Figure 5.

In the example, Alice has her user specific list of irritants 62 namely peanuts, lactose and celery, and user Bob whose list of irritants 62 include caffeine and egg. Each irritant has an associated level of unsuitability 64. For example, Alice has a high level of unsuitability for peanuts, which may indicate that she may have a reaction that would require hospitalisation. Her level of unsuitability 64 for lactose however is low. Bob has not specified a level of unsuitability 64 for egg and as a safety measure the default setting is high. In the preferred embodiment the level of unsuitability is set as high, medium or low, though the number and name of the levels of unsuitability may be varied in further embodiments.

In the preferred embodiment, the user is able to access the user profile database 16 as stored on the central computer 10 to change their list of irritants 62 and the associated level of unsuitability 64. This access also allows medical or healthcare professionals to change the list of irritants 62 and the associated level of unsuitability 64 as and when a suitable diagnosis is made.

Figure 6 is an example of a typical product information 32 associated with a product. There is shown the product ID 70, the class of irritant 72, group and family of irritant 74 and amount of irritant present 76. In the example shown the product is identified as a chocolate bar. Preferably the product ID 70 is also a UUID so that different brands and types of the same product may be identified. However, in the example shown the product ID 70 is left generic for illustrative purposes.

The chocolate bar is identified as containing two irritants of the lactose and nut class in the class of irritants 72. The lactose group 74 is not specified by the nuts are specified as tree nuts and hazelnuts in group of irritant 74 column. Therefore, a person who is only allergic to say, peanuts and not tree nuts, would be able to consume this product. The amount of lactose is identified as being 11 grams in the amount of irritant present column 76 and the amount of hazelnuts present is registered as only being a trace amount.

Figure 7 shows an example of the product information code used in the preferred embodiment. In the preferred embodiment this information is recorded in the form of an invention specific barcode. Such a barcode would utilise different widths of the lines to indicate the presence of a particular foodstuff or irritant. In an embodiment each bar would represent a different foodstuff or irritant and the thickness of the line would be an indication of the amount and or type of irritant present. This may also further be reinforced by the presence of an alphanumeric character above each line to indicate the nature of the irritant, for example an "S" above a line would indicate the presence of salt and the relative thickness of the line the amount present. In the example shown in Figure 7 there is shown a bar with the letter "S" indicating the presence of salt. The bar with the letter "N" indicates the presence of nuts and the letter "A" indicates the presence of alcohol.

In a further embodiment the lines on the invention specific barcode would vary in thickness (in the vertical axis) according to the amount present, as opposed to the constant line thickness for the individual bars as found in standard barcodes. For example if a product contained a high level of salt the line would be thickest towards the top of the line. Conversely, a product with a medium level of salt would be thickest towards the middle of the line.

In yet another embodiment, the information would be stored in a suitable machine readable format e.g. binary string, optical code etc. The format of the information itself, whether it is a barcode, alphanumeric string, optical, UPC or EAN- 13 type barcode etc, may be varied according to the various embodiments of the invention. However, the content of the information stored is an important aspect, as the information will detail the presence of the irritants or properties of the product and the decision will be based on this information.

Whilst the device has been described with particular reference to a handheld user device, further embodiments involve variations of the form of the device. For example, the device may be attached to, or integrated upon a shopping basket or trolley and used in the manner described above.

Whilst the invention has been described with reference to use in a retail environment, the invention may also be used as an educational or teaching aid. In a controlled environment, the user may use the invention to identify which products are safe for consumption or use.

The invention may also be used to help combat obesity. Whilst the examples given above relate to the presence of irritants, the product information may also store information regarding the levels of fats and the type of fat i.e. saturated, unsaturated, mono- saturated, transfat etc. Levels of fat would then be compared to the user profile and the unsuitability would be determined based on the level of fat contained and the user profile. Likewise information regarding the calorie content of a product may be stored in the product information code and compared to the user profile.

A further benefit of the invention herein described is that due to the simplicity of the device, and the fact that it may use multiple easy to understand outputs (e.g. different coloured lights, vibrations etc) it may be used be the young, the elderly and those with learning difficulties.

Further aspects of the invention, include the use of the invention for animals. In this embodiment, the intended recipient is an animal e.g. family pet, herd of cattle etc. The user, who may be the owner of the animals, utilises the invention in the way described in the specification. The intended recipient profile would contain the UID 60 which identifies the properties e.g. irritants, that are known to be unsuitable for the animal.

In further embodiments multiple intended recipient profiles may be loaded on to a single user device 20 at the same time. For example, a parent shopping for an entire family would may their own profile, and their spouse's and children's profile loaded onto the user device 20. The invention calculates the level of unsuitability for each profile and displays the level to the user in the same way. Preferably, the user device output 28 is a screen so that the name of the intended recipient(s) for whom the product is unsuitable may be displayed. The use of multiple profiles on the same device is particularly beneficial for the use of the invention for animals. In the above example, a farmer with a herd of cattle may have several hundred head of cattle and therefore would need to downloaded several hundred profiles.

Yet another embodiment extends beyond the use of foodstuffs. As mentioned previously, the product information may be appended to an particular product. For example, it is known that many people suffer from allergic reactions to several forms of medicine e.g. aspirin. Aspirin is present in many over-the-counter medicines and consequently may present a risk to an intended recipient. Product information appended to a medicine would contain information on the ingredients that are known to cause reactions amongst users. Similarly for other products such as makeup, shower gels, soaps etc., that may be used by a consumer. Product information may be scanned and compared to the intended recipient' s profile and the level of unsuitability returned.

Product information may also be used to calculate levels of unsuitability for almost any type of consumer product. This would require information regarding any potential unsuitable action or object to be stored in the intended recipient profile and in the product information.

A toy may be checked for the presence of any paints or compared to the age of the intended recipient. If the toy is identified as containing small parts and the profile of the recipient states that small parts are unsuitable, the user of the device would be informed accordingly.

Alternatively, persons who are infirm may have details regarding their infirmity in their profile. Products which require large amounts of physical effort to operate (e.g. cans) would have such information stored on their product information 33 and as such would be identified as being unsuitable for the infirm person.

A user who has a heart condition may have information regarding such a condition stored in their profile. The product information may have information regarding the potential unsuitability for those with a heart condition and therefore the product would be flagged as being unsuitable. Furthermore, if a product has a property is identified as potentially being unsuitable, and there is no information regarding this property in the user profile, the device output 28 may alert the user to this fact allowing the user to make a decision based on the presented information. For example, if a product contains solvents and there is no information regarding solvents in the intended recipient' s profile, then the device output 28 may display a message such as "Warning- this device contains solvents, do you wish to proceed?". In a further embodiment the device 20 may be locked until the user has selected a response or acknowledged the message via the device input.

The skilled man will appreciate that the interaction of the product information and the intended user profile may extend beyond the examples discussed. By identifying any potential unsuitable property of a product in a profile and identifying this property on the product information label, the invention is enabled to identify a level of unsuitability for a given intended recipient.

Claims

Claims

1. A device for alerting a user of the unsuitability of a product, comprising an input to enable entry of the type of product which a user wishes to use, a processor adapted to determine the suitability of a selected product for the intended recipient based on a comparison of known properties of the product with a profile of the intended recipient, and an output adapted to alert the user if the product is determined to be unsuitable.

2. A device comprising a local data store, such as a memory, comprising at least one profile of the intended recipient having details of known properties of a product, such as irritants, allergens, cosmetics, medicines and or foodstuffs unsuitable for use, such as consumption or application by the intended recipient.

3. A device according to any previous claim wherein the profile of the intended recipient is locally editable.

4. A device according to any previous claim wherein the device comprises a data input such as a key pad or touch screen,

5. A device according to any previous claim wherein the device further comprises a data input to enables downloading of one or more profiles from a remote location.

6. A device according to any previous claim wherein the profile contains information about level of unsuitability of the known properties for the intended recipient.

7. A hand- held device wherein the input is adapted to read types of content within a product, such as known allergens

8. A device according to any previous claim wherein the input is adapted to read a label representative of product information, e.g. a barcode identifying the product and or contents/ingredients/allergens in the product.

9. A device according to any previous claim wherein the device further comprises a local data store, such as a memory, of products, preferably wherein the data associated with a product comprises known allergens, intolerance compounds such as lactose.

10. A device according to any previous claim wherein the output is adapted to provide different levels of alert dependent on the severity of unsuitability of the product to the user, such as dependent on the risk of content of an irritant and or the concentration of the irritant.

11. A device according to any previous claim wherein the product is a foodstuff.

12. Labelling for products, comprising a machine readable identifier having information representative of the unsuitability for the intended recipient consumption of at least certain of the ingredients of the foodstuff.

13. Labelling according to claim 12 wherein the machine readable identifier is a barcode listing known irritants, allergens, and intolerance ingredients.

14. A transportable food storage apparatus, such as a basket or trolley, comprising a device according to any of claims 1 to 10 wherein the device is usable to input information about a product as is it being put into the apparatus.

15. Apparatus for assessing the risk posed by a product to a user, the apparatus comprising: a user device, the user device comprising a reader to read product information associated with the product, a memory associated with the device, said memory comprising one or more user profiles, said user profiles comprising information regarding the level of unsuitability posed by one or more known allergens to a user, a processor associated with the user device and an output; a product information database comprising information on the presence of one or more previously identified allergens contained in one or more products; a product information identifier that is machine readable for one or more products; in use the user device enabled to read the product information identifier associated with the product, and the processor comparing the read product information with a user profile to determine a level of unsuitability of the product to the user associated with the user profile; and outputting the level of unsuitability to the device output.

16. Apparatus of claim 15 wherein the user device further comprises communication means and the apparatus further comprises a central computer, the communication means able to communicate between the user device and the central computer.

17 Apparatus of any of claims 15 and 16 wherein the machine readable product information is in the form of a barcode.

18. Apparatus of any of claims 15 to 17 wherein the user profile and/or products database further comprises a time stamp and the user device alerts the user via the alerting means if the time stamp is greater than a predetermined limit.

19. Apparatus of any of claims 15 to 18 wherein a subset of the products information database is stored onto the user device.

20. Apparatus of claims 15 to 19 wherein the alerting means comprises one or more of: an audible alarm; a display means; a tactile warning; one or more different coloured lights.